O-ring inserter



y 12, 1964 M. DE BAcco ETYAL 3,

0-RING INSERTER Filed Sept. 22, 1961 FIGURE 2 FIGURE I MICHAEL DE BACCO HERBERT MONTGPMERY INVENrORS ATTORYIIEYS Michael V De ration .of Delaware;

similar devices are f in position. Often I into machinery readily,

l into said tubular section of the outwardly expanding resilient characteristics of the O-ring;. and, --ring push-out means including an elongated tubular drum sized so as to pass through and fit over .said guide means and into said 'O-ring retaining means 7. tubular section, pushing out the retained O-ring when in- 2 serted therein, together with a flanged portion to engage thecorresponding flanged portion ing means, whereby, to insert an O-ring in a piece of machinery, said O-ring is inserted in said O-ring retaining 1 means tubular section and said elongated 7 inserted into said piece of macihnery to said spot.

. O-Iring retaining means with the O-ring retained therein is 7 thereof preferably resting on the O-RING INSERTER Bacco, West Caldwell, and Herbert Montgomery, Pine Brook, N.J., assignorsto y I General Precision Inc., Little Falls, N.J., a corp0-.

Filed Sept. 22, 1961, Ser. N0.,140,09 s

1 Claim. c1. 29-235 s The present invention relates to the insertion of 0-rings in machinery, iiigfO-rings; a

" O-rings are small resilient rings usually made of rubber -which are' inserted in various-mechanical devices toact as -sealsor=jgaskets= If the O-ring' is to be inserted in a readily accessible place, I tered. However, O-rings must usually be inserted in some inaccessible part of machinery; -Generally, tweezers or used to grasp the O-ring and insert it the O-ring is torn and, although the cost of the O-ring itself is not too important, considerable n time must be wasted in inserting several O-rings to get one properly in position. If the, tear is not discovered, the device containing the torn O-ring must be disassembled once the defect is discovered.

- I Although many attempts may have been made to overimmediately come the foregoing difliculties and other difiiculties, none,

as far aswe are aware, was entirely successful when car-' ried lnto practice commercially on an industrial scale. It has now been discovered that O-rings can be inserted i on a mass production assemblyline operation without any tearing of O-rings.

" Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide Q a means for the insertion of O-rings in machinery.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an O-ring inserter which will not damage the O-ring and "which can be used by persons Other objects and' advantages will become apparent fro'rnthe following description taken in-conjunction with 1 the accompanying drawing in with little mechanical skill.

which: FIGURE l is an exploded view of one embodiment of 5 the device contemplated herein, and,

FIGURE 2 shows .an exploded view of another embodiment of the invention contemplated herein.

} With the foregoing and other objects in view, the in-- i vention resides in the novelarrangement and combinatIOII Of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed .:withoutdeparting from p the spirit of the invention. Generally speaking, the present invention contemplates a; device for inserting 'O-rings into machinery comprising combination, elongated guide means insertable into a i piece of machinery to a spot where the O-ringis to be placed; hollow flanged O-ring retaining means including a that the inserted O-ring will fit and be retained therein because tubular section sized so on said O-ring retainguide means is Said then placed over said elongated guide means, the flange adjacent machinery, said andmore particularly to a device for insertno particular problem is encoun 2 O-ring push-out means is then used to push-out the O-ring by placing the push-out -means tubular drum' over said guide means and into said 0-ringretaining means tubular section until the flange of saidvpush-out means engages the flange of said retaining means, so that the O-ring falls along the elongated guide means to said spot.

In; carrying the invehtioninto practice, the O-ring inserter herein contemplated must be designed 'With reference to the machineor device llltOj WhiCh the O-ring is to be placed. There is shown in the drawing an O-ring inserter 11'f0l rather large Q-rings; The O-ringinserter for this type of'O-ring has, as part of the combined inserter an elongated thin rod: 12-at one end of which is a base disc 13. The thin rod 12 andthe disc 13 form the guide means 14 along which theO -ring will slide into place.

Cooperating with the elongated guide-means 14 is the O-ring retaining means 15, which includes a tubular section-16 capable of retaininga particular O-ring 10 and a transverse flange 17 designed to rest on a portion of the machinery 19 into which the O-ring is to be inserted. As depicted in the drawing, guide means '14 is placed so that base 13 rests at the spot 18 in the machinery where the O-ring is to be inserted. The O-ring 10 is then placed in the O-ring'retainingmeans 15 and the retaining means with O-ring 10 therein is placed over the guide means preferably until the flange 17 engages a part of the machinery 19 where the flange will be retained. Push-out means 20 include a tubular drum portion 21, the tubular I transverse flange portion 22 shaped to engage flange 17 of.

the retaining means. -When the drum portion 21 is inserted over the guide means 14 and pushed into tubular section 16 of the retaining means 15, the O-ring 10 in the Y retaining means will be pushed out of the retaining means and travel along the guide means 14 until it falls to the spot 18 in the machinery where the O-ring is to be placed.

In the event that smaller O-rings are used, the construction of the individual components may be suitably changed. Thus, elongated guide means 34 can be provided having a smaller base 33 of drum-shape rather than disc shape. The tubular section 36 of the O-ring retaining means 37 may be fairly lengthy protecting the O-ring against gears 38 or other parts of the machinery which will damage the O-ring. Flanged section 39 of the retaining means may likewise be drum shaped so as to fit into have a drum-shaped flange 42 as well as an elongated tubular push-out drum 43 and to' facilitate the entrance of the push-out drum 43 into the retaining means 37, pushout means 41 may also have a tip 44 narrower in diameter than the push-out drum.

It is to be observed therefore that the present invention provides for an O-ring inserter comprising in combination guide means insertable into a piece of machinery to a spot where the O-ring is to be'placed; O-ring retaining means sized to retain an O-ring and fit over said guide means; and, O-ring push-out means adapted to push-out the O-ring retained in said retaining means along said guide means to said spot within the purview and scope of the invention and appendplace in'a piece of machinery,

ed claim.

We claim:

An O -ring inserter to fit an O-ring at an inaccessible comprising in combination:

an elongated cylindrical hollow cylindrical O-ring retaining means including a v 7 tion of the machinery; and,

rod insertable into the machinery to said place where the O-ring is to be inserted, having a base disc at one end thereof, said rod and disc forming guide means along which the O-ring will slide into place;

central tubular section, the inner cylindrical wall of which is sized so that the O-ring will fit into said tubular section and be retained therein, with an outwardlyextending upper peripheral flange to permit said O-ring retaining means to rest on an outer secsolid cylindrical push-out means including a solid cylindrical -drum section axially and radially sized to engage; said inner cylindrical wall of the tubular section and an upper peripheral outwardly extending flange designed to fit over the flange of said retaining means, saidpush-out means having a central axial aperture though which said thin rod can pass, whereby, to insert an O-ring in a piece of machinery,

said O-ring' is first inserted in said O-ring retaining means tubular section and said guide means is in- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Tarbox Feb. 25, 1936 Fowler Nov. 18, 1958 Davis et al Mar. 29, 1960 Fowler Apr. 24, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 734,309 Germany Q. Apr. 13, 1943 

